Week/end Review

Nothin like a marathon of board games for our bored children
...we are all about good times in this house, nothin but good times!

We watched our buddy for a few hours the other day and let me say that Brody was absolutely thrilled with sharing. Especially this"gotta have it"toy he hadn't touched in months.

In an effort to spice up dinner time...we've begun inviting guests. Spiderman did have some difficulty maneuvering the broccoli.

Every Sunday Mr. Jack requests a viewing of "Star Wars" -any episode will do. Kyle usually will oblige. Typical viewing positions: sweet worn out couch, sweaty sleepy Cole in it for the first 10 minutes or so, Jack getting full use out of his church blue socks, Kyle's out in 15...however this time, Luke Skywalker on Spiderman's 4 wheeler has joined for the duration of this episode... happily perched on the gut. -Classic.

#3

This is my baby. He's not really a baby any more but he is my youngest child, so therefore, my baby. He's what I like to call a spit fire-a maniac-a feisty and opinionated soul. I always thought that #3 would be easy going and happy to go with the flow. Oh how silly that sounds. I struggle at different times during the day to understand and keep him happy and content. I'm a laid back and positive person and so being uptight because of my child is hard for me. I'm working on it. This week for some reason a light bulb has gone off for both of us. He has figured out how to say a few more words to express himself with out whining or screaming. How frustrating that must be for a little guy. He now leads me around by his tiny fingers to actually "get" what he needs. So clever. He's confident already in who he is, I like that. I need to just breathe before I react. Oh, and I have discovered that smothering him with kisses before I go crazy takes the edge off.

Great big fish and Utah adventures

So we are all finally home. Kyle and his dad have returned from their much anticipated fishing expedition to Great Bear Lake in the NW terr. of Canada. Yes, they were lake trout fishing right off the Arctic ocean...fun! Float planes, ramshackle bus transportation, and lots of boat time made one sweet vacation for Kyle.

While he was gone I took the boys down to Utah for a little rendezvous with the cousins. It was the longest drive of my life getting down there....holy cow! I didn't lose my cool ....that bad, until we hit Caldwell Id. Let's just say:

1- public park bathroom....3- squirmy boys......95 degree heat.....1- mother trying to hold spastic toddler to prevent any and all germ contact, 1- 4 year old needing help with his "zippo" and 1-6 year old holding soggy paper bag full of lunch from Wendy's and half sipped capri suns. Do you see where this is going?? Yes, when all chicken nuggets and side salads hit the floor I kinda hit the fan. Boy was I thrilled to get back in the car and keep on 'a drivin! We finally made it and had a great time. Thanks cute cousins for swimming and sleepovers! We sewed, we swam, we ate, we watched Psych...all the good stuff. It's truly a shame that we do not live next door to each other.

Lucky Kyle got to take the working/good camera so I have nothing to document my trip with but high quality mental pictures and Jack's scooter+pavement incident.

We're home, we're tired, we're ready for school to start!

Timmmberrrrrrr

I am one who is - #1 -easily amused and #2- appreciates jobs that I wouldn't do even if they paid me enormous amounts of money. ie:skyscraper window washer, telephone pole fixer person, bridge maintenance worker, Goodyear blimp driver....you see where I'm going with this?!

So you could imagine my utter delight yesterday morning when I woke up to this free show outside my window. The neighbor in back of us was obviously so over their gigantor tree that they decided it must come down. I found this process fascinating. My camera doesn't give the whole thing justice....this guy in his spikey shoes and saw on a rope, was amazing and so quick. I raised up the blinds for a full view of the whole process. I couldn't tell if Mr. lumber jack was watching me watch him - that would have been awkward. I had to be sly with the camera and tried my best for a falling branch"action" shot. I sat mesmerized and clammy just thinking about how high he was. Would the tree start to fall over with him still attached? It was getting pretty skinny up there...I've seen cartoons, big people and bears make skinny tree tops fall over.

It was crazy. Before I knew it.....he cut the whole top off and then worked his way down, cutting about 6 ft pieces at a time. Go figure.

Now my majestic view of Mr. Rainier is even better. Thanks neighbor and death defying lumber jack for a great show, I was amused!

In conclusion

The saga of Cole's broken elbow has come to an end. This lovely lady below "vibrated" the cast right off -and just so you know...according to her, "it doesn't hurt." So no need to cry if you are say around 4 years old and there's a mean looking saw thingy grinding into your arm...no tears, just wipe them away. Thanks nurse.

It was a sweet bright green cast that no one was allowed to write on...good times.

The pins. Totally eeeuuuuuuuw to me. It was hard watching the doc shimmy the pins right on out of Cole's BONE. No numbing or anything....just pull/tug/twist....out. Lots of well deserved screaming and crying ensued. Lots of never been allowed before treats from moms purse were dispersed.


I should have taken a picture of the pins..sticking out of the elbow but forgot. You can see the 2 hole marks amongst the little cast rash.

I'm so thankful that this whole thing is over. Isn't modern medicine incredible? Two pins were stuck in his little broken elbow...3 weeks go by and new bone has grown together and it's healing right where it should be. Amazing!

hiatus...done

So I'm wishing that there was something huge and exciting to report that was the cause of my blogging absence...nope, just didn't have anything exciting to report. So instead I bored myself daily with my last "Stuff" entry and called 'er good. But no more, there's soooooo much to report on. So hold on to your wigs and keys everybody, and try to keep your shirt in the modest position.

First of all, nothing to do with anything-why am I THEE ONLY one who has the ability to re-install a roll of tp in the bathroom in this house? maddening.

Had my mom and brother Jens over for dinner tonight.The boys love uncle Jens..even though he's been known to break elbows. He and Cole have made up nicely. So I made a deliSH mixed berry cobbler for dessert. I crammed every fresh and frozen berry I could find into that thing knowing that Jens would fully dig it. WHAT???.......all these years I never knew he HATED berries. He gave me the 'ole "like the flavor hate the texture" song and dance. Yea, so that went over real well. I was however very pleased with his graciousness about the whole situation, he just sat there and stirred and stirred.

This guy got his "little man" swing finally put up. He worked through the initial lift off shock and all is now well! Yes, my child was waiting for the flood, that's how we roll on Sunday afternoons.

These 2 are back to fighting crime and wearing new protective gear on wrong body parts ie: wrist guards on the knee. Whatever, ..but by all means just don't BREAK anything!

Kyle is a fun dad. This was year #2 for the annual father/son/uncle/cousin/grandpa fishing trip to Canada. Aunt Cori and Sophie joined the crew this year and the boys had a blast. I so appreciate a husband who will take the time to make memories with his boys.

Tangled mess of fishing line....fun times!

So that's that folks. We have a little cast removal happening tomorrow....exciting stuff, stayed tuned!